1.11: Under the cherry blossom rain

In just half a day's time, the rumours about the scandalous incident in the Fushen temple quickly spread around the whole capital which drew many surprised gasps and gossipy stares from the people who heard it.

It was as if an invisible hand was pushing the tide in a certain direction behind the scenes as the rumours only became more ridiculous and exaggerated as it passed from one person to another until it deviated from the original version of the story.

The daily life of the nobles and their shameful secrets and hidden lovers had always been a hot topic to gossip about for the common people who idled around inns and restaurants. The capital also didn't lack many eloquent storytellers so the incident quickly became a  'must-hear' story about the heart-throbbing affair between a noble Prince and the daughter of a declining noble family.

The story had so many versions of it that one couldn't help but marvel at the rich imaginations of these ancient people.

Although many intellectuals had doubts about how the news already spread to every corner of the city in such a short time and suspected that the hidden truth wasn't that simple, the common folks didn't care and easily believed in whatever the majority believed in.

The supporters from Ning Wang's faction tried their best to suppress the rumours but it only made it fiercer until it couldn't be controlled by anyone. The capital was now buzzing with this hot topic and the main character of this story wasn't the least happy.

'Crash!!'

Inside a lavishly decorated room, the shattering sound of a porcelain destroyed the originally beautiful and extravagant outlook of the room.

The servants standing at the side with their heads lowered to the point of pasting their face to their chest, trembled in fear but no one dared to make any sound. They tried their best to lower their presence in fear of provoking the livid man who was venting his anger upon anything breakable in his sight.

Long Ji Jing didn't care about the presence of the servants and only had the desire to vent his anger. His chest heaving up and down, he broke yet another beautiful china vase then finally sat on a chair. He subconsciously reached out his hand to pour himself tea when he met with nothing but empty air and realised that the teapot had already met a tragic end by his own hand.

His red eyes immediately glared at his personal aide and barked, "What are you standing there for?! Go and get some tea for this prince!"

Getting shot even while lying down¹, the personal aide quickly bowed and didn't dare to show his discontent on his face.

Turning towards the cowering servants on the side, he angrily commanded,"Didn't you hear his highness' words?! What are you fools dawdling around for? Go and get some tea for his highness and clean up the room!"

The servants trembled at his sharp voice and replied 'Yes' then scrambled out of the room while some stayed to clean up the mess. The scene was returned to its original state in no time and the broken antiques were replaced with new ones from the store.

The tea was brought in by a servant and the eunuch at the side took it. After checking for anything odd inside the tea, the eunuch finally poured a cup of tea when he found nothing wrong in it. He passed the teacup in a deferential manner.

"Wang ye, please have some tea to calm down."

Long Ji Jing took the teacup and gulped it down as if he hadn't drunk for days. The warm tea instantly took its effect and his irritable mood calmed down by a bit.

Looking at his personal aide, he spoke in a cold voice,"Did you investigate who dared to set up this prince today?"

The aide shuddered and quickly cupped his hands. He said, "Wang ye, I had someone investigate about whoever approached you and who went near the side hall. The report said that the di² daughter of the duke of Jing's manor was guided to the side room by a priest working in the temple to change her clothes as someone had accidentally spilled some tea on her. I had someone find the priest but he was nowhere to be found in the temple. He must have escaped after destroying any evidence in the scene."

He continued,"Also, the report said that the priest who led you to the side hall was the same person so this must be someone's carefully planned scheme to frame your highness for having illicit affair in the temple. But unfortunately, this incompetent one couldn't find any clues other than these. Please forgive this lowly one, your highness."

After saying that, he knelt down on the floor and kowtowed with a remorseful expression.

Long Ji Jing had already calmed down by now so he quickly stopped him and let him stand up with a wave of his hand.

He knew that it won't be so easy to find more clues about the culprit so he didn't have any thoughts to blame it upon his own subordinates. Even if he couldn't find any evidences, he still had a guess about who dared to scheme against him in broad daylight.

At the thought of that person, he gritted his teeth in hatred and spat out a command. "Inform the officials that we will be having a late-night meeting tonight. Everyone must attend no matter what."

"Yes, wang ye."

With that, he got up from the chair and tidied up his clothes. He then made his way out of the room with a sentence, "Go to Wangfei's courtyard."

Thinking about his wife, his brows furrowed with a bit of annoyance. Although he didn't like his wangfei, he still had to explain the situation to his wife to give face to the prime minister. He still needed his support and couldn't provoke him yet so he suppressed the displeasure in his heart.

"Yes, wang ye." Hearing that he wanted to visit the Wangfei, his personal aide promptly replied and set out with a group of eunuchs.

....

While the capital was buzzing around with activity and many people weren't able to sit at ease while some were gloating over other's misfortune, Bai Yu was completely unaffected by the chaotic currents outside as he leisurely ate his fill and drank his tea in the garden while basking in the sun.

He listened to Xiao Mo as he enthusiastically told him about the exaggerated stories made up from the rumours outside. He could make out the obvious gloating from his voice which made him chuckle softly.

He teasingly said, "Okay, don't say any more. You have already said it so many times that my ears are going to hurt if I continued listening."

"Ah, f-forgive this servant. I was too excited and couldn't help myself from speaking too much."Xiao Mo apologetically bowed his head.

"It's alright. I was just joking." Bai Yu was amused by his reaction.

'Wang ye can even joke?!' Xiao Mo thought in shock.

All these years, his highness had been very calm and hid his emotions deep inside his heart. He never showed his pain, grievances, happiness, anger and sufferings, and silently endured them by himself. Only recently did he start to show more emotions on his face.

He would smile when amused, he would rebuke him lightly if he did something wrong, even the subtlest emotions were something new to him. It was as if he had finally begun to show his humane self.

Xiao Mo felt very grateful about this change in his master. It was good as long as his master was healthy and well.

Bai Yu lightly smiled when he noticed the surprise in the other's eyes but didn't say anything.

The warm rays of sun bathed him in a golden light which gave his sharp facial contour a delicate touch.

He thought about how the court was going to be even chaotic tomorrow and felt his mood brighten up.

"The weather today isn't bad. Although thunder and storm will rage, tomorrow's weather is something to look forward to." saying that, he calmly sipped his tea as if he was simply talking about weather and nothing else.

Xiao Mo was a bit puzzled by his words. "Ah? Wang ye, what do you mean by 'thunder and storm will rage'? It's only early spring and there shouldn't be such a heavy weather yet, right?"

Bai Yu simply smiled at him and said, "You will know when it comes."

He then continued enjoying his tea and the warm sunlight in silence.

Xiao Mo was further confused by his mysterious words and could only keep his curiosity when he saw that he wasn't going to get any answers from his master.

....

The next morning, the court was in a turmoil, the officials were utterly confused, shocked and terrified while the emperor was angered to the point of fainting and waking up again to faint the second time.

Just yesterday, the capital was buzzing with the news about the illicit affair between Ning Wang and the di daughter of a duke's manor in a temple when just this morning, another bomb was dropped upon everyone's head. The bomb was so powerful that it implicated many officials.

The whole capital fell into chaos at the news about many corrupt officials getting exiled, their land, title and wealth confiscated or their whole family getting executed by the emperor's orders for their heinous crimes.

Embezzlement of disaster relief money, taking bribes and forcing their subordinates to take bribes, forcefully confiscating private lands from the poor farmers, emptying the granary while deceiving the censors with bags of sand, etc. Such heavy crimes and their solid evidences were presented to the emperor.

The ministry of justice's people were busy to the point that their feet seemed to float above the floor.

The group of court officials who were still safe were in a state of shock and confusion as they still couldn't believe and understand what just happened.

If it were just one faction reporting upon their opposition then fine, it was normal. But when all three of the factions started to report crimes upon crimes of the officials without discrimination between the factions, it became a sight enough to make them dizzy with no idea about the current situation.

Was this some kind of a 'you report me, I report you' competition? Why did the court suddenly transform into a local marketplace??

Could someone care to explain what was going on here?!?

Even Long Ji Jing and Long Ji Ling were completely taken by surprise with this move. They hadn't expected the oppositions to actually get their hands on so many flaws from their own factions. They both thought that their enemies were too deeply hidden as they were actually able to dig out so many hidden crimes of their supporters.

They believed that it was really their enemies hiding their strength too deeply. They would've never expected that the person behind this chaos was but an advanced system who was only following the orders of his host.

In just a morning's time, both hostile factions of the two princes suffered heavy losses that couldn't possibly be recovered in a short time. Their hearts were bleeding profusely but they still had to put on a calm facade and kneel down as they shouted 'Your majesty is wise' to see the emperor off.

After the emperor was gone, everyone got up from the floor and made their way out of the court hall, their mind still unable to come out of the shock they suffered today.

Outside the court entrance, Long Ji Jing and Long Ji Ling stood face to face with cold looks on their face as electric currents seemed to crackle in the air.

With a sneer, Long Ji Jing mocked, "Elder brother is really capable. Today's show was really something. This younger brother really respects you."

Still with a cold face, Long Ji Ling stared at him with a deep look and replied, "Same goes to you. Fifth brother always looks unrestrained and carefree but has quite some means in the back of your hand. It really widens this prince's initial knowledge about fifth brother."

Hearing his words, Long Ji Jing scoffed. "Elder brother is also very well hidden. But no matter how capable you are in using underhanded tricks, you are still just a lowly prince birthed by a lowly servant. It's better if you understand your place and stop using such despicable schemes only used by the women in the inner courtyard."

Having said what he wanted, Long Ji Jing walked away without even saying goodbye leaving behind the stiff figure of the third prince who stared at his back with icy cold eyes filled with deep-rooted hatred and murderous intent.

'That despicable mouth of yours, I will make sure to rip it apart and cut off your tongue when I get my hand on the throne. Then I will see how you will dare to mock me again.'

Gritting his teeth, Long Ji Ling forcefully suppressed his tumultuous emotions and walked out of the palace.

....

The ministry of justice was very fast and efficient as they quickly arrested the corrupt officials and sent out groups of yamen inspectors to capture the officials with a post far from the capital.

The execution platform was also very busy and crowded with spectators as those who were sentenced to death were executed in no time and those whose lands and title and wealth were to be confiscated were confiscated by the court and those who were to be exiled were exiled.

The streets of the capital was very lively with activities for the whole day when a sudden good news was finally heard amongst the bad ones. When the people heard of it, they were very excited and immediately forgot about anything else.

General Zhong Yong and his army had finally arrived in the capital!!

***

1) Getting shot while lying down= Basically, you are caught in the crossfire even though you tried to remain quiet and not get involved. You're innocent, but still hit. How unfortunate!

2) Di daughter= Di means legitimate, children from the main wife. And Shu means illegitimate, the children from a concubine or mistress.